


The Importance of Flossing

by equisetum



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fallen Cas, First Kiss, Fluff, Going to the Dentist, Life in the bunker, M/M, cas in the bunker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27943238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/equisetum/pseuds/equisetum
Summary: Cas flinched when he drank from his beer bottle. Dean didn’t really think more about Cas’ reaction until a few days later when he passed him a steaming cup of coffee at breakfast. Cas recoiled again. Then Dean saw it happen over and over again in the days that followed. Cas hissed when he drank his tea. Cas turned down an offer of getting ice cream, and he never said no to ice cream. Cas almost screamed when Sam gave him some Sour Patch Kids.Dean started to suspect that Cas might have a cavity...
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 64





	The Importance of Flossing

The first time that Dean noticed it was when he handed Cas a beer in the bunker’s kitchen when they just had come back from a hunt. Cas didn’t do as he usually did, immediately tipping the bottle back and taking a long pull. That meant that Dean wasn’t able to indulge in one of his favorite hobbies, staring at Cas’ long neck while he was busy drinking. He’d always appreciated a good-looking neck, and Cas’ really was something else. So he had a bit of a neck kink? Sue him, there wasn’t anything wrong with that. You know, apart from the awkwardness that came when you constantly ogled your friend. Your very, very good looking, now human friend.

“Cas, you okay there, buddy? If you don’t want the beer I can take the bottle to Sammy instead.”

“No. Thank you, Dean. I assure you that I am quite well” he said and took a small sip of his beer. Dean felt a bit robbed of his neck staring opportunity, but then he saw Cas flinch at the coldness of the beverage.

Dean didn’t really think more about Cas’ reaction until a few days later when he passed him a steaming cup of coffee at breakfast. Cas recoiled again. Then Dean saw it happen over and over again in the days that followed. Cas hissed when he drank his tea. Cas turned down an offer of getting ice cream, and he never said no to ice cream. Cas almost screamed when Sam gave him some Sour Patch Kids. 

At dinner the same night Sam had given him the candy, Dean realized that Cas seemed to only chew his food using only the left side of his mouth.

When they had finished eating and Dean had cleaned up in the kitchen, he went to Cas’ room and knocked on his door.

“Come in” came the deep response. Dean opened the door and stepped inside. Cas sat on his bed, a book in his hand.

“Hey, Cas. Just wanted to ask you something.”

“Of course, Dean.” 

Dean walked up to the bed and perched on the edge of it, near Cas’ feet.

“So, uh, you seem to have been in a bit of pain lately.” Cas squinted at him.

“You don’t have to deny it. I’ve... I’ve seen you eat and drink these past few days.” Dean tried to will his blushing away, now was really not the time to think about Cas’ neck again.

“Ah yes. My mouth has been oddly painful recently.”

“Yeah, about that. I have an idea why that might be. Remember when you fell, and we talked about the importance of dental hygiene? I taught you how to brush your teeth.” Cas nodded. Dean continued. “Well, did we ever get to why flossing is good for you?”

Cas tilted his head, looking more confused than Dean had seen him in a long time. “Flossing? Like the dance? What does that have to do with my teeth?”

Dean barked out a laugh. “What? No dumbass, not like the dance. How do you even know about that?”

“One of Claire’s friends showed me. It’s actually rather fun when you understand how to do it.”

“Man, what I wouldn’t have paid to see that” Dean muttered to himself, shaking his head, still smiling down at the floor. “No, this kind of flossing is when you pull a piece of string between your teeth to remove the gunk that gathers between them because the toothbrush can’t reach everywhere. You see, you gotta do that every day now that you can’t mojo yourself all clean and spiffy anymore”

Dean took Cas to the bathroom and demonstrated. Cas grimaced and the floss came away bloody. Dean winced. “I think you probably have a cavity or two. Or at least some gingivitis. I’ll call the dentist tomorrow.”

The following morning Dean called the dentist and luckily, they got an appointment the same afternoon. After lunch Dean drove them into town in the Impala. They stepped into the dentist’s office and walked up to the receptionist. Dean tried to give her a winning smile.

“Hi. We got an appointment now at two-thirty. Cas, uh, Castiel Winchester.”

“Certainly. I’ll just let them know that you are here” She hurried away and returned with a nurse.

“Castiel? Nice to meet you. If you’d come with me this way, please.”

Cas turned to Dean, looking worried. “You’ll be fine, Cas. I’ll just wait here then, I’ll see you when you’re done.” 

They disappeared.

Dean had hardly had time to sit down in an armchair and pick up an old car magazine to flick through while he waited before the nurse came running back into the waiting room.

“Mr. Winchester! You need to speak to your husband!” She turned and ran back the way she had come.

Dean felt himself go red. His husband? He hadn’t really thought about the implications when he had booked the appointment and stated that it was for Castiel Winchester, but it wasn’t like Cas had a last name, so giving his own had seemed like the only option. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he got up and followed the nurse. 

When Dean got to the room, Cas and the dentist stood on different sides of it, glaring at each other. The dentist was clutching at her hand.

“Dean. This woman is dangerous! She has weapons and she tried to use them on me.”

“He bit me!”

Dean blinked a couple of times, trying to process the strange situation. “Sorry about that. I’ll talk to him” he said to the dentist. He turned to Cas and lowered his voice “Cas, come on, man. We talked about this, about what happens at the dentist’s.”

Cas stared grumpily at him. “I don’t like it.”

“No one likes it. Will you be all right if I stay here with you?”

Cas nodded. 

“Is that okay?” he asked the nurse. She nodded and brought him a stool so that he could sit next to the patient’s chair. 

“Cas, come on, angel, get back in the chair.” Cas climbed back, while the dentist put a bandaid on her hand. When she turned around, Dean thought that Cas looked so small and frightened in that big chair that he acted on instinct, taking Cas’ slightly clammy hand in his own.

Half an hour later, they walked back into the waiting room, still hand in hand. The dentist had removed one of Cas’ teeth, fixed cavities in two others, and then thoroughly cleaned his teeth. Cas had gotten a new appointment in a couple of weeks to get a replacement tooth put in. Dean was really glad that he had brought several of their old fraudulent credit cards. This was going to be expensive, it wasn’t like you could get health insurance as a hunter.

When he handed one of the cards over to the receptionist to pay for the visit, Cas still clung to him, staring at him. He did seem to be a little out of it. Maybe the pain killers the dentist had given him before the extraction had hit him harder than Dean thought?

“Dean, how are you so pretty? You have so many freckles! I’m going to count them now!”

Right. Cas wasn’t just a little out of it, he was a lot out of it. Dean flushed and the receptionist giggled as she handed him the receipt. 

“Okay, let’s get you home, you weirdo.”

They turned to the elevator, the receptionist was still giggling, and Cas was still trying to count Dean’s freckles. Dean sighed. He was just happy that Sam wasn’t there, he would have laughed himself to an aneurysm by now. Cas had lost track of his counting while walking and was now pouting. Dean placed a hand on the small of his back and steered him into the elevator, he refused to look at Cas.

When they stepped out onto the street, Dean realized that Cas had been strangely quiet for someone who was trying to count someone else’s freckles. He looked at Cas who made some very weird facial expressions, it looked almost like he was trying to lick his own teeth.

“Cas? What are you doing?”

“Dean. Dean, my teeth. They are so smooth! Sooo smooth. You should feel them!”

And before he could realize what was happening, Cas threw himself at Dean, pressing his lips against Dean’s. He had rarely felt so shocked in his life, this was very far from all the scenarios he had dreamed about when thinking about kissing Cas for the first time. While his body didn’t want anything other than to respond to Cas’ soft lips, there was still a part of his brain that knew that this was wrong right now. It felt like he’d never done anything so difficult as to pull away from Cas’ persistent kiss.

“Whoa! Whoa there! While I absolutely love what’s happening here, I’m not gonna kiss you when you’re this loopy. Let’s do it for real instead when you’re back to being your sane self again. Okay?” He looked down at Cas and added “or as sane as you usually are anyway.”

He finally managed to get them both into the Impala. The ride home was silent. 

When they at last pulled into the bunker’s garage, Dean parked and got out of the car. He walked around to the passenger’s seat and opened the door, waiting for Cas to step out. Cas did so and then he stood very still looking down at the floor, opening and closing his mouth a few times.

“Thank you for coming with me, Dean. I appreciate it.”

“Of course, Cas. Are you back to being yourself now?”

Cas nodded. “Yes. I believe so.”

“Good.” He stepped into Cas’ space and pulled him flush against himself. He pushed Cas against the side of the Impala and kissed him. Their lips moved against each other, and when their mouths opened, Dean couldn’t help but laugh into the kiss. Cas had been right. 

His teeth were really smooth.


End file.
